UTICA, N.Y. (January 5, 2010) – Sophomore forward Simon Smith matched his career high with 22 points and the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team outscored Utica College 37-24 over the final 15:56 game time en route to a 76-59 win at the Clark Athletic Center in Utica, N.Y. on Tuesday night. The loss halts a two-game skid for the Ducks as they improve to 3-2 in the Empire 8 and 8-3 overall. Sophomore guard Mike Cutri and senior guard George Greco scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, in the win.
Stevens jumped out to a 7-2 advantage early on, but the Pioneers rebounded well over the game's next eight-plus minutes, outscoring the Ducks 14-6 to take a 16-13 lead with 6:43 to play in the first.
The Ducks answered after Utica's run, going on a 10-2 spurt of their own over a span of 2:24 to take a 23-18 lead with 3:30 remaining in the first. Senior forward Matt Higgins got a steal and gave Greco a nice pass for a fast-break layup to cap the run.
After a layup from freshman forward Jeff Ward (Ossining, N.Y.) stopped the bleeding, the Ducks were able to extend their edge to eight (28-20) with five-straight points, three coming from Smith. Utica countered by scoring four of the final five points of the first half and the Ducks went into the break with a 29-25 advantage. Stevens shot 39.3 percent (11-for-28) from the floor in the opening half but held the Pioneers to 28.6 percent shooting.
Over the first four minutes of the second half, the two teams went point-for-point, and the Ducks maintained their four-point lead (39-35) with 15:56 left in the game. From that point on, Stevens absolutely dominated the remainder of the action.
Junior center Bryan Franklin scored four of the six points in a 6-0 spurt to give the Ducks their first double-digit lead of the game and after some back-and-forth, Greco connected on Stevens' first and only three-pointer of the game to make it 52-39, Ducks with 8:15 remaining in the contest.
Utica could never recover as the Ducks expanded their lead to as many 21 after a pair of free throws from Cutri with 1:35 remaining.
Stevens shot 63 percent (17-for-27) from the floor in the second half and was 28-for-55 (50.9 percent) for the game. The Ducks went just 1-of-12 from long range but connected on 19 of their 26 free-throw attempts as they held Utica to 34.3 percent from the floor and 23.5 percent from deep.
Stevens, which assisted on 21 of its 28 made baskets and only committed 12 turnovers, had an extremely balanced attack all night. Smith finished with 22 points, on 8-of-10 shooting, and six rebounds, and Cutri had 12 points and four assists. Greco finished with 11 points, six assists, and five boards, while senior forward Ian Masone tallied nine points and pulled down seven rebounds. Higgins ended with seven points, four assists, a team-high three steals and two rebounds, and Franklin finished with six points and five rebounds.
Junior forward Will Abrams (Somerset, N.J.) led the Pioneers with 12 points and five rebounds, and sophomore guard Evan Taylor (Naples, Fla.) had 10 points and two boards.
Stevens will return to action on Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. when it hosts conference rival Hartwick College at the Canavan Arena. For those unable to attend, the game will be webcast live at www.PennAtlantic.com/main.php.
